“Thank you Lord Jesus for President
Trump.” I saw this held by two "Trumpsters" today on
Facebook. The logic, or lack thereof,
is mindboggling. Jesus, a spiritual
individual, advocate for the poor, critic of the wealthy and God’s sacrifice to
humanity has given us Donald Trump, windbag, nihilist and billionaire. Despite this evidence, Americans as a whole
are not stupid. We have managed to
maintain an effective form of government that requires the participation of its
citizenry for 239 years. We have had our
difficulties, but we have usually recovered.
At least, that’s what we hope.
Just for the sake of argument, say
20% of our population is intellectually inept, stupid. That would represent about 66 million
individuals. Even though that would
leave us with 264 million with rational intelligence, that’s a lot of
stupid. Look at most of the great
political movements since the American Revolution. Most started with far less than a 20% popularity
rate, the French Revolution, the Russian (Soviet) Revolution, the over-cited
rise of Nazi Germany and the Mao Revolution in China all began with a
determined minority that effectively manipulated a desperate populace against
the existing government. All had the
benefit of a clueless ruling class that kept to itself, ignored the majority
and obsessed with its opulence. So what
does this have to do with Jesus giving us Donald Trump?
After the 2008 “Great Recession”,
the wealthiest 20% in this country, some 66 million folk, suffered some
setbacks, but by 2012 it was back to its fat and happy debt driven ways. Sacrifices were minimal and the government
kept them, us, afloat until we got back on our feet. All the while, everyone else struggled. Median income dropped, real inflation
continued to rise and income growth stagnated.
Most continue to suffer while those in the upper income brackets
continue to represent the majority of government and pretend everything is
good.
66 million people with most of the
economic might in this country represents a very powerful micro-economy. Enough money can be exchanged among the top
20% to sustain the U.S. economy and keep people content. What do the Tee shirts say? “Life is Good.” While we live in our nice houses and drink
our lattes, we pretend the remaining 80% are fine. Enter the Tea Party.
There are a
lot of pissed off people in this country.
The income inequality, the massive individual debt and general manipulative
nature of our representatives helped create a movement that could be a serious
threat to the well being of all.
Granted, these folks have good reason to be upset. However, enough of the Tea Party has proven
itself to be gullible to demagogues such as Donald Trump who seethes vitriol
for the sake of immediate personal gain.
Immediate is an important distinction here. There have been numerous characters fueling
the angst of our citizenry since 2008, but none have tapped into our worst like
“The Donald.” He says what he wants, and individuals with no sense of
perspective beyond a mythological interpretation of faith and the pain of
current circumstances drink it up like cold PBR.
The Donald
will not last. He’ll get bored and
realize that the White House will threaten his business opportunities. However, once he goes back to bullying
clients and star-crossed wannabes, a leadership void could result in the rise
of a manipulative sociopath who follows Trumps formula for divisive popularity
while building a political following that puts he or she in power. Most of the current Republican candidates for
President are struggling in the wake of the Trump phenomenon, and their
response has been to mimic the anti-liberal, anti-immigrant and
anti-establishment rhetoric so attractive to the “Trumpsters.” All have maintained distrust for the government
they have so willingly served over the years as a means to portray themselves
as one of us. As insincere and
hypocritical as all of this seems to most, there is a substantial population
that buys the rhetoric.
What makes
the rise of a powerful and talented populist more problematic is that he or she
may not even be on the national stage yet.
One of the consequences of the Tea Party movement and its predecessors
of the previous two decades is that the federal government has become a target
with less and less power. Grass roots
movements have taken over local and state governments while critics of the
federal government have led interference.
Pundits and their followers lambast Federal overreach in education,
health care and entitlements while they act to defund these entities at the statehouse. Fewer resources provided for local citizenry
while they are convinced it is Washington’s fault. This is not a formula for a return to responsive government.
We have
numerous serious challenges in this country that require thoughtful leadership
and discriminating, collaborative, followership. The history of humankind tells us that such
reason has a difficult time overcoming outrage driven by ignorance. The majority of the population goes about
their business, accepting the ebb and flow of life, while a determined minority
finds a way to convince others, inaccurately, that there doesn’t have to be an
ebb. The entire Trump affair would make
for good comedy if there were not others dangerously stoking the anger Trump is
manipulating. Failure to overcome a
movement that plays on emotion over reason could lead to massive national
heartache. Somehow 266 million people need to convince 66 million that ignorance is far from bliss.
